BY LINCOLN ANDERSON | The new crosstown bike lanes at the north end of the Village were allegedly installed to deal with a looming transit crisis of such epic proportion that, like a mantra, it was regularly referred to as “unprecedented.” It even had its own awe-inspiring nickname: the “L-pocalypse.”
As it turns out, though, the L train never was, nor ever will be, fully shut down for East River tunnel repairs. Nevertheless, the new bike lanes will now be permanent anyway.
That’s the word from Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, per an e-mail she sent out late Wednesday evening.
This obviously comes as terrific news to cycling advocates but a nightmare for many residents living along the streets with the new bike lanes who value curbside access, be it for their own cars or cabs, delivery vehicles and others.
The Traffic and Transportation Committee of Community Board 2 was set to hear a presentation from city agency officials Thursday night about the city’s latest “experiment” for 14th St., plus the new bike lanes.
As for that “experiment,” Brewer said she also supports the city’s new scheme to prioritize buses and trucks on 14th St. — and also to transition the M14 route to Select Bus Service — since it would increase the buses’ speed.
But others, like former longtime Councilmember Carol Greitzer, recently writing in a letter to this paper, argue convincingly that existing bus stops along the M14 must be retained — not reduced to allow for high-speed S.B.S. — since one of buses’ major benefits is that they are accessible to less-mobile seniors, the disabled and others who are uncomfortable using the subway: In other words, speed should not be prioritized over accessibility when it comes to buses.
Brewer doesn’t necessarily see it that way — though she did say she would work to try to save M14 stops on the Lower East Side.
“The city’s Department of Transportation has agreed to create a busway — or what D.O.T. is now calling a ‘Transit-Truck Priority’ project — on 14th St. between Third and Ninth Aves. beginning in June for an 18-month pilot,” Brewer said in her e-mail.
“This means buses and delivery vehicles will be given priority over private and for-hire vehicles during most of the day, with the exact hours still to be determined by transportation officials,” she continued. “Private cars that turn onto 14th St. from the avenues will be forced to take the next legal turn off 14th St., or suffer a traffic-camera ticket mailed to the vehicle’s registered address.
“Along with the creation of Select Bus Service on the M14 routes in June, this should result in significant speed and reliability increases over current routes on 14th St. — and help handle the spillover of transit riders during the L train’s tunnel rehabilitation during the next 15 months. Also, bike lanes on W. 12th and 13th Sts. will be made permanent.
“I support this new plan for 14th St. and surrounding streets,” the B.P. stated, “even though it will require some getting used to by drivers and nearby residents. Many details have yet to be worked out. Traffic spillover onto 13th and 15th Sts. must be carefully monitored, and I am working to preserve the M14’s local stops on the Lower East Side, which are most-used by seniors and low-income riders.”
Judy Pesin, a member of the 14th St. Coalition’s steering committee, slammed the latest bus plan as little more than “a retooled busway,” and said local politicians should not just be monitoring the scheme’s implementation — but must get out in front of it and critically assess it.
“It’s a retooled busway that was said to support the 84,000 daily aboveground commuters resulting from the L-train closure,” Pesin said. “With the closure canceled and the hordes not arriving, the M.T.A./D.O.T. are continuing with this drastic plan with no reason except to speed up the buses — all while the L train is up and running.
“The experiment with a single lane of traffic in each direction and a 17-hour, seven-day vehicle ban doesn’t solve any problems on 14th St. How will buses speed up sharing a single lane with trucks and drop-offs and pickups? It will create problems on all neighboring streets by diverting cars and trucks — whose drivers don’t want the no-left-turn restrictions — over to our fragile side streets. And how will an emergency vehicle get through the single lanes? This plan puts us all at risk.”
“The mayor is saying that helping a commuter save 15 minutes travel time is more important than the safety and quality of life issues of those of us who live here.”
In defense of the new protected bike lanes, they are far safer for cyclists than the preexisting unprotected ones on Ninth and 10th Sts. Using the older lanes, cyclists are constantly at risk of being hit by traffic swerving into the lane. Those earlier lanes are also often blocked by double-parked cars, forcing bikes to veer dangerously out into traffic. The lanes on Ninth and Tenth Sts. also, at points, run past some very active garages, so cars are often at risk of suddenly crossing the paths.
